“When life gives you lemons, you don’t make lemonade. You use the seeds to plant a whole orchard – an entire franchise! Or you could just stay on the Destiny Bus and drink lemonade someone else has made, from a can.” ― Anthon St. Maarten
Like many of you, I have had more than a few bushels of lemons dumped into my lap over the past decade. Lots of rotten, stinking lemons, but more than enough gorgeous, juicy lemons to make digging through the bushels worthwhile. If the adage “when life hands you lemons…” is true, I am ready to open my lemonade stand…or perhaps a chain of them!
The construction of my lemonade stand has been arduous. The materials were expensive and the frame was hard wrought. My body and heart bear the nicks, scrapes, and calluses which come from the hard work of demolition and building. Of re-building. But the wounds are healing and now only faint scars remain as talismans which mark not only where I have been, but where I am going. The lemonade, the product of my efforts, is sweet and delicious.
I am amazed at the line that forms when I flip on my “open” sign. SO many people, mainly women, are needing to hear my story, see the solidly crafted lemonade stand I am still building, and taste the victorious sweetness of coming out on the other side of it all. They ask for the blueprints. They ask about my recipe. They quiz me about how I learned to become a craftsman and a master mixologist. Did I find the instructions in a book? Did I take a class? Is there some drug I’m taking to give me this creative perseverance? Not really. I just looked inside and it was all right here. All the time. Waiting for me to see it and trust it. I have no special skills, no super-powers. I’m just, perhaps, FINALLY paying a little more attention than most….
Silly metaphors, yes. Contrived? Certainly. But I am continually amazed by the results I see unfolding before me. This lemonade and the stand I have created are the products of an incredible, ongoing labor of love, a journey into self, and the lifelong mission that is unfolding as we speak.
None of this has come as an accident; there is a magical synchronicity to it all….I am simply fortunate to have been paying attention.
Because that’s what it takes: a willingness to remain still, open, and mindful. This, plus a practice of acceptance, not just of the good/fun/easy stuff, but the crappy/hard/painful stuff as well. Because in every one of these experiences there is a lesson. You just have to be still enough to learn it without pushing it away. And as a result, I know my why. I know who I am and my purpose here on this plane is now very clear. I have a message and a story to tell. There are lots of people out their craving a taste of this inspiration so they can go home and make their OWN lemonade.
My lemonade stand is open… how may I serve you?
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